Cheiloplasty / bullhorn

Expressive, sensitive, luxurious lips — this is the trend that has prevailed in the field of beauty and plastic surgery in recent decades. And if fillers guarantee a wow effect for up to 6 months, cheiloplasty provides a lifelong result.  Cheiloplasty is a surgery that aims to change the shape, size, and contour of the lips, and is successfully performed by the Yurchenko Team. One of its varieties is the bullhorn. This is a technique of correcting a too-long, loose, or sagging lip using a small incision resembling a horn. This technique has a powerful rejuvenating effect. The height of the upper lip from the nasal root to the edge of the lips is usually 11–13 mm. With age, due to loss of elasticity and atrophy of soft tissues and bones, the lip lengthens and flattens. When the height of the upper lip exceeds 14 mm, it begins to look flat and long. The bullhorn helps to visually rejuvenate the face, restore youthful expressiveness and sensation.

Reasons for choosing cheiloplasty/bullhorn

• Age-related changes. Eventually, the lip tissue loses its turgor, volume decreases, and the distance from the nose to the upper lip becomes larger. To eliminate this, restore youthful expressiveness of the lips and reduce wrinkles, cheiloplasty can be performed.
• Cosmetic indications. Bullhorn surgery is recommended to increase the volume of the lips, enhance their symmetry, improve their shape and contours.
• Congenital defects.  Plastic surgery helps correct congenital anomalies such as a harelip.
• Traumas. Asymmetry, loss of contour, and volume can be the result of burns, cuts, bruises, and other injuries. Modern plastic surgery helps to restore the beauty of the lips permanently.

Expected result. Properly performed cheiloplasty can radically improve the patient’s appearance:

• Reduce the congenital, disproportionately elongated distance from the upper lip margin to the tip of the nose.
• Rejuvenate the lower third of the face. A shorter distance between the nose and the vermilion of the lips is associated with a younger appearance. The ideal distance for a harmonious facial anatomy is 11–13 mm for women and 13–15 mm for men. A tendency to lengthen this distance occurs with age. Genetics and aging processes are the most common causes of this issue. Surgery to correct the shape and volume of the lips will visually rejuvenate the appearance, harmonize facial features, add more sensuality.
• Enlarge lips with a lifelong result.

Stages of cheiloplasty

The first step on the way to beautiful lips starts with an online or offline consultation with a Yurchenko Team doctor. During the consultation, the specialist clarifies whether the patient has any contraindications and tells about the procedure. Lip surgery can be performed under general and local anesthesia and requires a mandatory medical examination.

If the operation is performed under general anesthesia, the following examinations are required: complete blood count, urine test, biochemical analysis (ALT, AST, urea, creatinine, total protein, total, direct and indirect bilirubin, glucose), coagulation panel, WR, HBsAg, HCV, HIV, Blood type and Rh factor determination, ECG, X-ray (not older than 1 year). It is also necessary to make an appointment with a general practitioner and an anesthesiologist. If upper lip plastic surgery is performed under local anesthesia, this list is slightly reduced.

Bulhorn lip correction surgery is performed by an experienced plastic surgeon. After anesthesia, the doctor makes a delicate incision directly under the nose line, which minimizes the visibility of the postoperative scar. After removing the necessary skin flap, the soft tissues are fixed to the periosteum, and the margins of the incision are sutured together. The surgery takes up to 1 hour.

Bulhorn cheiloplasty is a surgery that does not require a long stay in the clinic. Patients remain under the supervision of qualified medical staff for only a few hours after the surgery, and then can return home. Final results can be assessed after the swelling has decreased and healing is complete, but the effect of the correction will be noticeable immediately.

Postoperative period

A certain recovery period is required, during which swelling, bruising, and discomfort may occur. The patient should take proper care of the sutures for the first 7 days, treating them once a day with chlorhexidine solution.

Also, during the healing period, which lasts up to 3 weeks, it is necessary to avoid using makeup, avoid physical activity and follow special doctor’s recommendations.

Risks and complications 

As any surgical operation, cheiloplasty has certain risks, such as:

1. Infections.
2. Hematomas (accumulation of blood under the skin).
3. Asymmetry (unevenness of the lip margin, different sizes between the left and right lip margins).
4. Allergic reactions to anesthesia or materials.
5. Prolonged swelling or pain.
6. Scars

Important! If discharge from the sutures, redness, or fever are present, it is necessary to consult the surgeon. It can be a signal of an inflammatory process and complications.

To minimize the possibility of complications, it is necessary to delegate cheiloplasty to the specialists of the Yurchenko Team. Also, it’s necessary to visit a plastic surgeon on a regular basis to monitor the healing process. Specialist can choose injection or apparatus (laser) techniques for the correction of scars.

Combination with other surgeries

To achieve a comprehensive result, cheiloplasty is often combined with other surgeries, such as a face lifting, rhinoplasty, eyelid surgery, or any other body surgery, such as breast surgery or tummy tuck.

Cheiloplasty is an effective way to improve the appearance of the lips, but it is important to consider all the risks and consult with a qualified surgeon. Choosing an experienced specialist and establishing realistic expectations are key to a successful result.

If you need more information or expert advice, please contact a certified plastic surgeon.

Reasons to trust Yurchenko Team

Yurchenko Team’s philosophy is simple: everyone should be an expert in their field. That is why we stand for specialization of each plastic surgeon we work with. This focus allows the specialist to improve his/her skills to the maximum and keep up to date with all innovations and improvements in the technique of operations. Because the beauty industry offers more than 70 types of surgeries to improve appearance and rejuvenate.

To ensure accessibility for patients from various regions, our doctors are available at three locations: Kyiv, Bukovel, and Limassol. Thus, patients can choose the most convenient and comfortable place for the surgery.